Is it just me, or should the Oilers try to go for the draft lottery? They are almost maxing out the salary cap, and yet they are icing the worst team in the western conference (according to standings). What is the solution? Keep the young players, drop the underachieving, overpaid vets and build from the ground up, a la Blackhawks? Voice your opinions.

Why should they go for the lottery when it seems the lottery is coming to them, another sup par outing tonight keeps them at last in the West! Sorry but my best friend is an Oilers fan so it is great to see them suck!

Well, normally I would cheer a bit for the Oil . . . but in this case, I very strongly agree: lottery! lottery! lottery!

'Cause if the Oil finish below the Leafs this year . . . a certain poster here named after a legume will have to be a "Leaf fan" for two months (the playoffs).

He he, it could come right down to the wire . . . this will be fun!

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

Guest7113 ( )

Posted - 12/24/2009 : 06:12:46

Canucks Man is right. All they need to do is move some dead weight (Staios, Moreau, POS, one of Grebeshkov/Gilbert, one of Cogliano/Nilsson/Pouliot) for picks and contracts expiring at the end of the year, and they definitely won't need to try for the lottery.

They've got enough talent coming up through the system that they could ice a whole team of inexpensive vets via free agency and the waiver wire and work on a couple of the prospects at a time.

Ah Slozo, did you forget the bet already??? It was the Leafs would have to be ahead of both the Oilers AND the Senators. I still have a lot of life.

And no, a team should NEVER 'tank' for a lottery pick. If the NHL discovers that a team does things intentionally to secure a specific draft spot, they will more than likley lose that spot.

Beside, the Oilers are not getting out talented night after night, they are getting out worked. That's a coaching issue and a current players issue. Adding a #1 draft pick does not fix that.

I am in no way saying the Oilers are a highly skilled team, but they are losing to teams based on work right now. Last night's Minny game was the first game in about 2 weeks where they actually looking like they cared. Even though they lose, it was a step in the right direction.

Consistancy is what the Oilers need. Not a lottery pick.

Guest7113 ( )

Posted - 12/24/2009 : 08:29:31

I'm going to have to disagree, Beans. I've seen the Oil play with heart quite a few times in the past 3 weeks. When you say that talent isn't the issue, I have to assume you're talking about EV scoring.

Their defence is porous mostly due to atrocious coverage at the points. They can't win a faceoff to save their lives, and the highly-touted 'crust and jam' that they brought in is one-dimensional at best.

quote:[i]Originally posted by Beans15[/i][br]Ah Slozo, did you forget the bet already??? It was the Leafs would have to be ahead of both the Oilers AND the Senators. I still have a lot of life.

And no, a team should NEVER 'tank' for a lottery pick. If the NHL discovers that a team does things intentionally to secure a specific draft spot, they will more than likley lose that spot.

Beside, the Oilers are not getting out talented night after night, they are getting out worked. That's a coaching issue and a current players issue. Adding a #1 draft pick does not fix that.

I am in no way saying the Oilers are a highly skilled team, but they are losing to teams based on work right now. Last night's Minny game was the first game in about 2 weeks where they actually looking like they cared. Even though they lose, it was a step in the right direction.

Consistancy is what the Oilers need. Not a lottery pick.

9 points out of the playoffs with 45 games to play, a 5 and 5 record in there last 10 while relying on a backup goalie with less than 40 games under his belt and your discussing tanking a season. I may be disappointed with half the lineup from Edmonton, but I was surprised by the other half. This team wasn't expected to do much better in the standings this season and have looked better in some games than their current record. Between Hemsky, Souray and Khabi injuries this team has been dealt some serious blows, but could bounce back with another road trip like there last 5-0.

LA - 3-2 lose at home. I was at this game. If Deslaurier didn't stand on his head, this game would have been a blow out

Nashville - 6-3 Lose at home. They played in the 1st period, mailed in the next 2.

Washington - Played awesome hockey for the first 2 periods. Gave up in the 3rd. This is the only game in the past 5 I would agree the Oilers didn't have the talent to compete.

St. Louis - 7-2 - Just look at the score!

There is 4 out of the past 5 games where the Oilers did not play a full 60. Even the Washington game was a pathetic 3rd period.

Maybe we are watching different games.

Guest7113 ( )

Posted - 12/24/2009 : 08:49:47

The Washington game was a heart and soul game, unless you're looking to write off Staios blocking several (um, a billion or something?) shots in a row. This is the best game the Oilers have played in awhile, including a couple of their wins on the road.

The St Louis game was a result of a rookie AHL goaltender who's been on the bench for a month. They played lazy, but the score is a bad indication.

I think you're drinking a little too much Copper 'n' Blue Kool Aid if you think this is a skilled team. I'll concede to 'flashes of brilliance' and 'rookies with upside' at best when it comes to this year's team.

Guest7113 ( )

Posted - 12/24/2009 : 08:53:59

I'm not trying to suggest that that the Oil are the hardest working team in the NHL. They're definitely not. The problem with the team (more than work ethic) is the fact that they have too many players that fill the same role, and not enough players to fill the other necessary roles.

The Oilers would have enough skill to compete if they had someone skilled enough to take a faceoff. Same goes for defensively responsible forwards, and gritty guys that don't crap the bed when it comes to doing anything other than hitting and fighting.

Guest7113 ( )

Posted - 12/24/2009 : 09:01:55

Some of my thoughts seem to be at odds with each other, but you'll have to give me a break because I'm at work and I'm a little distracted.

A summary of my argument:

- The Oilers have a surplus of small, skilled forwards that are early in the development stages of their careers.

- Scoring prowess on the defensive end often eclipses their inability to keep the puck out of their own net. By itself this is not a problem, but the Oil do not have a defensively responsible defenseman (other than Smid) that can play decent minutes and pair up with Souray/Visnovsky. I love the Visnovsky/Smid pairing, but they need someone similar to Smid to pair up with Souray.

- Their bottom six is a mess. Free agency this summer could have seen an NHL-proven bottom six to help with faceoffs and the PK show up in Edmonton for 5MM. Goc, Betts, Malhotra, and a few others...

I guess when I started this post, what I meant in "going for the draft lottery" is not to purposely tank for the 1st pick, but rather, how should the Oilers try to improve?

Should they try to "rebuild" by dumping salary and building around their youth core(careful trading, patient development of young talent), or should trade players and/or picks for big names(ie. try to get kovaluchuk) in order to try to make a playoff run?

I rather that management try to build around youth and view making the playoffs this year as a big bonus (although every team, every player should always try their best to make the playoffs to the last dying moment).

Guest6561 ( )

Posted - 12/24/2009 : 15:16:17

A playoff run would be just about the worst thing for this team's long-term development.

Right now they should be gearing for the season-after-next in terms of a cup run. They don't have to gut the team entirely to do an effective rebuild, especially with the likes of Linus Omark, Magnus Paajaarvi-Svensson, and Jordan Eberle coming up, as well as Sam Gagner being groomed to be a top-tier forward in a couple years. That's plenty of talent - to the point where acquiring a Kovalchuk-type or even Taylor Hall is probably almost pointless. Trading Hall would go a long way to filling those holes I mentioned, and you could package up some of the more expensive, supposedly un-movable contracts that aren't over for a few years.

You could pick up a big, physical, stay-at-home defenseman and defensively responsible forward that's a little bit more durable than Pisani, a couple of crash-and-bangers to make room for the small guys and chip in a goal or two.